Christmas 2017

Christmas break finally arrived and we were in desperate need of a vacation from our crazy schedule! We stayed at the Cowley's for the first part of the vacation. This post covers until Christmas day and then the next one will be all about the wedding!

Brent took the kids to ihop without me because I don't like that place, even if it is free.

One of the first nights Ava fell while in the tub and hit her mouth. She cried and cried and pulled out her bottom tooth! It hurt a lot, but once the tooth fairy came, she was all fine with her tooth being knocked out and she's been proudly showing people ever since.

We went to see the new Star Wars at the theater with my family thanks to my Grandma's bank again.

For my mom's birthday we went to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. I got awesome tickets this year right in front on the plaza! They always do such a great job at these concerts.

We went to church with the Cowleys at Carrington Court.

Coen just wanted to cuddle Grandpa!

I got my haircut by the fabulous Lori Hilton.

We went to Benihana for Brent's and my mom's birthday coupons and took Ava with us.

It was fun to have Ava there because she was fascinated by it all. She made the greatest facial expressions and thoroughly enjoyed it. Coen stayed home with Grandma Tammy which is a good thing because he's too little still.

Brent woke up with some crazy bedhead one morning that was making me laugh a lot.

Brent took the kids to the library while I was at work downtown. I was so paranoid on the vacation because it seemed like everyone was sick and I was determined we weren't going to get anything, especially for the wedding! Brent text me this picture and I replied, wash their hands!!!

We washed our hands what felt like constantly and other than a diarrhea bug Coen got, the rest of us stayed healthy the whole three weeks which was a blessing!

Brent send me this video of the kids dancing while I was at work. The part at the end where Ava does her little head banging was making my dad and I laugh so much on trax.

We went to Tucanos to also use birthday coupons, and then we went to the Grand America to look at their Christmas displays.

Ginormous gingerbread house!

 Em and her family came to visit us. We always have fun talking to them!

Just a little reality check. Coen's crying here because I told him the juice is all gone and he needed to drink water.

We went to visit Nana and also the Hansens at the same time as Cher. We had nice visits and exchanged presents.

The marble run is still a hit.

Laura came into town and we got to see her and meet her adorable puppy, Lottie.

 Here's a video of Coen playing with Lottie:

We kept making Ava perform songs from her preschool program all break. She had no fear and would happily do it, even with some bigger crowds. Here she's singing Go Tell it on a Mountain for Laura and Jordan:

The Dahn party was the Grinch theme, which Tammy and Natalie worked so hard on (on top of all the wedding stuff!). Mitch even came dressed as the Grinch!

The Dahns always do the nativity and Coen wanted to be a sheep for about 1.2 seconds.

Ava was a little angel.

The kids played racing games with Max the dog pulling the sleds, among other Grinch-themed games.

Christmas Eve we went to church with my mom and dad.

Coen wanted his picture taken like this:

We had dinner with almost all of the Braithwaite, just missing Andrew's family! We don't get together very often, so it was a treat. 

Three sisters, tallest to shortest!

We opened presents and it went by way too fast.

Then we met up with the Cowleys to look at the Christmas candy displays at South Jordan. It was freezing and this is the best picture I got...

Ava was at the best age for Santa this year. She was so excited to set out cookies for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. It was magic for her. We had a special little Christmas Eve devotional with the Night Before Christmas and Luke 2.

I was surprised, Ava didn't wake us up early- we actually had to wake her up at about 8 am! She had her little heart set on a Barbie Camper which was too expensive, too big, and she doesn't really like Barbies. What to do!? So she got a little makeup bag with a nail polish set, hair bows, etc. I thought she might cry or throw a fit, but she was excited all the same.

Coen got an Elmo and some Star Wars potato heads. Both kids got a couple more presents "accidentally left by Santa" back home in Oregon too.

 Ava got a Sebastian & Arial CD and I just love this video of her Jamaican dancing:

I curled her hair for Christmas Day and we went to visit both of Brent's grandparents and his side of the family. It is so nice to be close to both families!

We came back to my parent's house and visited with my cousin Dustin and his son. 

Ava emerged from the basement as a bumble bee. Ha!

And that concludes Christmas!

Happy Birthday Brent: Protecting our Marriage

Disclaimer: I started this post a year and a half ago and I never found a good time to post it because I didn't want to "show off" our marriage. Our marriage is not perfect so I didn't want to feel hypocritical. But really, the blog is the best way I'm journaling right now and so I want my kids to know these things. I decided Brent's birthday was a good time to get it out and finish it up to document here what a sweetheart he is and how we uphold our marriage. Then I went and found some old pictures so it feels extra sentimental. 

I feel like we keep hearing of people our age getting divorced, and it is making my heart hurt. Ask Brent, I've been thinking A LOT about marriage, and what we can do to keep our marriage not only alive, but thriving. The thing that keeps coming to my mind is the best marriage advice we received on our wedding day. It came from Elder Robbins, who sealed us, and he was obviously inspired to tell us what we needed to hear.

"You cannot fall out of kindness." 

Elder Robbins told us that in the scriptures when it describes what love is, it uses verbs- actions. Love is about being kind to one another, and you cannot fall out of kindness.

When I think about when Brent and I are the happiest, it is when we are being kind to one another. I am so grateful for Brent, who shows me kindness every day. A few examples:

When I was pregnant with Coen I failed my 1-hour glucose test and had to go back to do a 3-hour glucose test. I was really dreading it because you have to do it fasting and I was so nervous about throwing up there, or just feeling sick waiting in the doctor's office for three hours. To help me, Brent got out his portable dvd player and put in a comedy that would make me laugh. Then he drove me to the doctor's office and sat with me for the first little while to make sure I was ok. Because of him, it actually turned out to be a pretty fun day. So often when I'm worried or stressed, Brent not only calms me, but he shows me that life is meant to be enjoyed.

One day I came home from taking the kids to play group and Brent left me a hand-written love note with flowers that he had picked from our garden. I had been feeling kind of bleh- sad, bored, moody, etc, and this small act of kindness made a huge impact, especially when I didn't feel I was being especially lovable.

I got the stomach flu and by the evening I was worn out. Brent let me lay in his lap while he tickled my back because he knows how much that comforts me.

If the kids get up too early in the morning, Brent will get up with them and let me sleep. He never rubs it in my face or complains.

When I was pregnant with Ava I was working full-time, so I was extra tired. After dinner, Brent would insist on doing the dishes each night. After I had Ava, I thought that would stop, but even now, Brent will say to me after dinner, "will you do me a favor?" I will pretend like I have no idea what he's asking for as I stall and load as many dishes as I can. Then he will say, "stop touching the dishes, go sit down!" Every night.

Whenever I want to do something fun for myself, Brent is happy to watch the kids, no questions asked. He always tells me to take my time and stay as long as I want.

Brent regularly tells me I'm beautiful.

We all know how much Brent hates stinky dirty things, so the fact that he often tells me he'll change a poopy diaper even though it's my turn, is extremely kind.

Brent was at school having a busy day with all of his homework but he walked through the rain to the urgent care where I was at in order to "rescue me" and take the kids so I could relax a little at the urgent care.

Happy birthday Brent. Thanks for being so kind. To finish up, here's one of my favorite videos of us together: